Iron Man is Mr. Peanut

For 94 years the beloved Planters company logo has remained silent. Until now.

Robert Downey Jr. is the first voice of Mr. Peanut and (if it's even possible to even do so in a thiry second commercial) he nails the role perfectly. I've seen the commercial a few times on Hulu but never recognized it was him. I'm loving the new claymation Mr. Peanut and will celebrate this occasion tomorrow when I buy that Planters tropical trail mix for $9 at 7-11. Freeze-dried pineapple and lightly salted dried banana will make this the merriest of Christmassesses.

- Mike O.

Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips Luau BBQ: Good Source of Vitamin C

About 13 Hawaiian BBQ kettle chips provide 6% of your daily Vitamin C requirement. This is good news considering I'm almost done eating the entire 8oz bag all by myself. These are by far the best chips known to man kind and the description on the back proves it:

Discover a new world of flavor when you crunch into these crispy golden chips. Created one batch at a time to deliver the freshness and authenticity only found in Hawaiian Style Chips. Cooked to perfection, and seasoned to give you the authentic taste that only an open fire barbeque can give you. Open a bag of Hawaiian Style Potato Chips, and let yourself be swept away to a tropical paradise of beautiful sunset luaus. Mahalo.

It's too bad that Tim's Cascade Snacks is actually located in Algona, WA and there are no Hawaiian born employees on their payroll. Probably.

Twix: Good Source of Copper.

Art immitating (my) life:

A regular sized two ounce package of Twix contains 7% of your daily Copper allotment.

This explains why pennies made before 1982 were made with close to 98% copper and why pennies made after 1982 are now made mostly of zinc. Screw pennies, we need our Twix!

Cup Noodles and Farewell to April

Cup Noodles? Is that a fucking typo or has everyone been adding the 'O or the 'A in the middle of the title? Nobody has ever said "I'm eating Cup Noodles". I can't even eat them now knowing the title doesn't sound right.

Cup 'o Noodles. Cup-a-noodles. Never, ever Cup Noodles.

You guessed it, April was a slow month for IEC so here's what we have lined up for May:

• Recipes, recipes, recipes.
• An official Laker-Flag-On-Cars counter updated daily.
• Guest contributor Danny reviews another candy bar.
• Reviews of remaining Office episodes.
• Other stuff.

Go May!

An Evening @ Pink's Hot Dogs

Hollywood, about 10:05pm, Monday night. Clear skies, empty freeways, broken parking meters, all coming together at once. I don't mean to get all Bill Plaschke on everyone, it's just that when you wait less than an hour to order food at Pink's you know it's a good day.

Before Pink's, a quick stop at Amoeba Music was made. Not because I needed anything specific, but when there's time and money it's a good place to spend a few hours. Hot Shots on DVD for $4.99, The Editors first album for $7.99. Money well spent.

Being 5 minutes from Pink's and fairly hungry is a dangerous combination, but I'll get to that. In a line of about 60 people, I'm sandwiched between Asian tourists and a group of men practicing show tunes. Behind the counter there's a problem regarding lunch breaks for the cooks. The manager, old whitey, was asking through a translator who looked to be the head bilingual chef to ask the employee in question to stay on the floor a little longer before leaving for her lunch. Head chef translates the proposition and the cook is obviously displeased, throwing a minor tantrum for all of our entertainment. When you watch a white person get yelled at in Spanish, especially when he is unfamiliar with several spicy profanities, don't look away.

When you've eaten at Pink's before, it can be tough to decide what new things you want to try, and what new things you'd rather not. People were ordering The Martha Stewart, The Ozzie, The Rosie O'Donnell, The Today Show. I noticed nobody was ordering something called America The Beautiful. Pressed for time, I was forced to order this America dog without really seeing what it was. There was only one sign for it, and I didn't pay much attention 10 feet earlier. "Next!" was yelled and I wasn't going to waste anyone's time.

Big mistake.

The America The Beautiful Hot Dog is aptly named. You see, it turns out that for $6.50 you get a 12" Jalapeno Braut, covered in bacon strips, pastrami, lettuce, and tomato. The guys behind me singing show tunes saw this thing hit my plate and replied, "you're going to die if you eat that."

Everyone in line who could see it was trying to help us figure out what made this dog so U.S. of A. Then, of course, it hit me. The guy in front of me with his girlfriend asked "What's so American about it?" and I said it must symbolize our obese, overweight nation. Everyone laughed, except of course me since I was the husky American who had ordered this appropriately named monstrosity. Pink's doesn't even list this thing on their website, even though many of the other special dogs are on there. Maybe that's a bad sign.

One guy offered to help me eat it so I wouldn't have a massive heart attack and spoil everyone's night. I declined the offer and promised those around me that I wouldn't finish it and was just as surprised as they were that this thing existed.

Anyways, I ended up eating about a third of it, wrapped up the rest, and will be mailing it to a third world country to help put an end to starvation.

If you don't want to look like Bill Plaschke, do not order America The Beautiful at Pink's.

Good Source Post by Surprise Guest Contributor!

Guest contributor Danny (pictured above) honors us with his first IEC appearance showcasing a candy bar that is sure to provide you one good source:

Danny's Diagnosis: Awesome! Can't wait to get all tweaked out on Butterfingers. This is also a cheap alternative to cocaine and speed.

---

We look forward to his future contributions to IEC!

Good Source: Starburst Jelly Beans

Starburst Jelly Beans are a good source of the following dyes: Yellow #5, Red #40, Yellow #6, and Blue #1.

Snak Club Peach Rings: Good Source of Carbohydrates

You can get 70% of your daily sugar allotment from one giant bag of Peach Rings.

Pringles Sour Cream & Onion: Source of Vitamin C

At 6% a serving, and every serving being 15 pringles, eating roughly 250 chips will give you the 100% daily serving of Vitamin C recommended by doctors.

Blue Moon: Fat Free Product (by Coors?)

Blue Moon is a fat free beverage, so drink up!

Side Note: A few weeks ago I wanted this in bottles but couldn't find it, not even at BevMo or Trader Joe's. Now it's available at my local Albertson's for $9.99 a 6 pack, $16.99 a 12 pack. Wikipedia says it's a seasonal promotion, so I assume it's not regularly available all year? In any event, I can't stop drinking this stuff.

Also, a friend mentioned how trendy this citrusy beer has gotten since its introduction in 1995. Today I find out it's actually made by Coors, who is helping fight the trendyness by not putting their logo on the bottle (shows Blue Moon Brewing Co. on the back). Because Coors is pretty blandly-disgusting in comparison, I'm positive they had the right idea. It'd be like you finding out your favorite song of all time was written by Usher. It's something you'd rather not know.

Sonic Blast: Good Source of Calcium

Most Sonic Blasts provide 25% of your daily requirement of Calcium. Good news for us all.